Peter J. Leithart

In one of the early meditations in his Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology Of The Body , John Paul II mused on the anthropological import of Adam’s initial solitude in the garden. He notes that the story of Adam’s naming the animals points to the fact that “self-knowledge . . . . Continue Reading »

The word “seed” is used six times in Genesis 1, twice each in verses 11, 12, and 29.  None of these refers to a human being.  The first use of the word for a human being comes in 3:15, which is the next time the word is used after chapter 1.  Again the word is doubled: . . . . Continue Reading »

Bonaventure works up to a description of the Trinity by contemplating what it means for God to be good.  Good is self-diffiusive, and the highest good must be supremely so.  Supreme self-diffusion must involve the complete gift of one’s entire being to another, which is what the . . . . Continue Reading »

In his book on Bonaventure (Great Medieval Thinkers) , Christopher Cullen argues that Bonaventure does not separate the treatise de deo uno from one de deo trino .  Cullen’s explanation would not, I suspect, satisfy Rahner, since he distinguishes two approaches, one which “fixes . . . . Continue Reading »

Acts 10:28: Peter said, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.” Peter summarizes all the hubbub of the New Testament in this one verse.  This . . . . Continue Reading »

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, John says.  We often think that the Word is concealed behind His flesh.  But that is the opposite of the truth.  In the Old Testament, Yahweh was hidden within the temple veils, but in the incarnation He comes out of hiding. This is what John . . . . Continue Reading »

Citing the Oresteia , Kass points to the “tragic” character of sibling relations in heroic societies.  Though he does not mean the word “tragic” in this sense, it seems that this is bound up with the essentially backward-looking character of brotherhood.  Cain and . . . . Continue Reading »

In his meditation on the births of Cain and Abel ( The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis ) , Leon Kass notes the difference between male/female and brother/brother relations.  Man and woman “are defined relative to each other, and their relationship is incited by desire seeking . . . . Continue Reading »

As you walk away from the stacks, your eye lands on an intriguing title you’ve never heard of and you’ve not been looking for.  It turns out to contain all the crucial information. Just when you’re hitting transition and the book is just not going to come without a surgical . . . . Continue Reading »

Donald Fairbairn ( Life in the Trinity: An Introduction to Theology With the Help of the Church Fathers ) writes, “In the mind of the early church, impassibility implied that God could not be adversely affected or damaged by anything we might do.  We cannot ruin the fellowship within . . . . Continue Reading »